‘For large metros, our fares among lowest’ – ( Sorry but the report by CSE is not based on practicality though it does a fair data comparison but ground reality is something else )

UBS Report Doesn’t Take Discounts Into Account: DMRC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has refuted the UBS Prices and Earnings report, 2018, that has found the public carrier the second-most unaffordable among metro systems across the world saying that the comparison is selective and not correct. DMRC said that the claim that its fares have increased by 90% is inaccurate as the report does not take into account the various discounts available on the system.

“The comparison of fares does not take into account large size metros comparable to the DMRC network and is selective. The only international benchmarking group of large metro systems, Community of Metros (CoMet), has placed DMRC fares at a much lower level,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director, corporate communication, DMRC.

DMRC is a member of Co-Met, which is a benchmarking group of large metro systems in the world with an annual ridership of at least 500 million. “At present, there are 32 metro systems that are its members, including Delhi Metro. Of these, Delhi Metro’s passenger fare per kilometre is considered amongst the lowest,” Dayal said.

The fares of Delhi Metro were revised in 2017 after a gap of nine years during which there was almost a 90% increase in power tariffs and other input costs. “The fares were revised by an independent fare fixation committee through a well-defined mechanism and not by DMRC,” Dayal added.

“The sustainability of the metro is primarily dependent on the fare box collection and till such time an alternative viable option is available, fares will need to be fixed accordingly. In 2018 itself, Delhi Metro has expanded by more than 60 kilometres and will have a network of 350km in the next few months. Periodic fare revisions are imperative to sustain such infrastructure projects in the long run,” the spokesperson said.